Conservative rule overhaul blamed for Syrian refugee backlog

Tima Kurdi, right, aunt of late brothers Alan and Ghalib Kurdi, is comforted by friend Hoba Said, at her home in Coquitlam, B.C., on Thursday September 3, 2015. Alan, his older brother Ghalib and their mother Rehanna died as they tried to reach Europe from Syria. The uncle of the three-year-old Syrian boy whose lifeless body has put a devastating human face on the Syrian refugee crisis has assailed Canada's refugee process.THE CANADIAN PRESS

The Conservative government imposed a new rule for potential refugees in 2012 — a change refugee groups say is squarely to blame for why so few Syrians have made it to Canadian soil.

The rule also appears to have played a key role in the government’s refusal to let a B.C. woman, Tima Kurdi, privately sponsor her brother Mohammed Kurdi and his family to come to Canada.

After Mohammed’s application was returned to Tima, their other brother, Abdullah, tried to flee with his family from Turkey to Greece. Their boat capsized and Abdullah’s two young sons and wife all drowned. Pictures of three-year-old Alan Kurdi’s lifeless body washed ashore in Turkey shocked the world this week.

The refugee groups say they have repeatedly called on Immigration Minister Chris Alexander and the government to exempt Syrians from the rule — which says the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) or another country must first designate a person as a refugee before immigration officials will consider letting them be privately sponsored to come to Canada.

But they say their requests have been ignored.

Then-immigration minister Jason Kenney implemented the new rule in October 2012 as part of a broader Conservative government overhaul of Canada’s refugee system.

It only applies to those refugees being sponsored by groups of five or more Canadians, called G5s. It does not apply to so-called sponsorship agreement holders, which are large organizations like churches and community associations that have a long history of privately sponsoring refugees to come to Canada.

Briefing notes obtained by the Citizen say the change was intended to protect against fraud, but also to deal with a large backlog of applications from private sponsors while speeding up applications. “It is anticipated that this regulatory change will reduce G5 submissions by 70 per cent,” reads one memo to Kenney.

Refugee groups are now hoping the Kurdi tragedy, and resulting groundswell of interest in sponsoring Syrian refugees, will prompt the government to finally waive the rule. Otherwise, they warn, all those Canadians clamouring to help will face the same result as Tima Kurdi.

“There are so many Syrian Canadians and non-Syrian Canadians who are interested in coming together and helping,” Vancouver immigration lawyer Fadi Yachoua said. “But this regulation is making it very difficult for people to even begin the process.”

Some organizations expressed concern at the time that the new regulation would have negative implications for refugees. The Canadian Bar Association, for example, warned that refugees already faced significant challenges to get recognized by the UNHCR where there are “massive refugee influxes.”

Fast-forward to the Syrian crisis. Overwhelmed by the flood of Syrians fleeing their country since 2011, the UNHCR has only been able to go through the intensive screening process needed to designate someone a refugee for a fraction of the population.

“There is no way the UNHCR can actually have individual interviews with everybody they register to determine whether they are a Geneva Convention refugee,” said Naomi Alboim of Lifeline Syria, a Toronto-based organization working to facilitate private sponsorships. “It’s beyond their resources.”

The Turkish government, which has taken responsibility for registering and designating refugees flowing into the country, faces similar challenges.

The Conservative government has promised that Canada will accept 11,300 Syrian refugees by the end of 2017. Of that total, more than 7,000 are expected to come through private sponsorship, with the remainder being sponsored by the government.

Yet refugee groups say only sponsorship agreement holders have had any real success bringing Syrians to Canada. They say the majority of G5 sponsors, such as Tima Kurdi, have been stonewalled because of the designation requirement.

Speaking to reporters this week, Canada’s immigration minister all but confirmed that the government rejected Kurdi’s application to bring her brother Mohammed’s family to Canada because of the rule.

“It was returned to the applicant with a request for additional documentation, in this case, a confirmation of a refugee convention status as determined by the UN High Commission for Refugees,” Alexander said.

Alexander’s office did not respond to interview requests Friday.

Syrian Canadian Council spokesman Faisal Alazem described the requirement as a “barrier” for private sponsorship “since only a very small portion of refugees have been recognized by the UNHCR.” He noted Quebec, which controls its own immigration and refugee system, doesn’t have such a requirement.

According to the briefing notes obtained by the Citizen, the minister does have the ability to waive the requirement for groups of applicants. Alboim said Lifeline Syria sent Alexander two letters about the issue and asking him make an exception for Syrians. Other groups say they have done the same thing.

“We’ve sent two very detailed letters to the minister of Citizenship and Immigration with all these concerns requesting those changes be made,” Alboim said. “He’s aware. The department’s aware. We have received no formal replies from the minister.”

Refugee groups say if the requirement had been in place 35 years ago, it would have prevented thousands of Vietnamese boat people from coming to Canada. They also say the rule is redundant because even with a UNHCR designation, Canadian immigration officials thoroughly vet private sponsorship applicants.

“Even with a prior designation, CIC is still doing all the necessary background and security checks,” said Scott McLeod of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara. “The mostly highly scrutinized stream of immigration is the refugee stream.”

The Kurdi family’s tragedy this week has prompted a wellspring of interest in private sponsorship among average Canadians. Toronto Mayor John Tory said this week that he was hoping to help welcome Syrian refugees to the country, and other groups have also stepped up.

Canadian Council for Refugees executive director Janet Dench said unless the rule is waived for Syrians, or abolished for all privately sponsored refugees, Tory and others will face the same result as the Kurdis.

“We’re being asked by a lot of people: ‘What can Canadians do?’” she said. “One of the obvious things is to do private sponsorship. But I’m hesitating to say it because do I want to condemn somebody to that level of frustration and disappointment?”

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